What are some specific research goals that JPL scientists are working on?
Evans: Our work is kind of like having to find a needle in a haystack. We’re trying to measure one molecule of carbon dioxide in 1 million molecules of air. And we want to detect minute changes in the salt content of seawater. Changes equal to adding less than half a teaspoon of salt to one gallon of water. These are incredibly hard tasks. But scientists need these measurements. They will lead to more accurate forecasts of global warming. EE: Geology was your focus during college and graduate school. And it played a large role in the early part of your professional life. What sparked this interest? Evans: It started one summer during college. I was working at Yellowstone National Park. I was amazed by the bubbling mud pots. (Mud pots are turbulent pools of hot, muddy water.) I wanted to learn more about what caused them. So I started taking geology courses back at school in the fall. I found them to be the most interesting classes I’d ever had. EE: In graduate school, you studied the g
